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Addressing the Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium of SA in Johannesburg on Tuesday, Ramaphosa said roads, railways, ports, energy infrastructure, water systems and digital networks are essential for unlocking economic potential. “We need roads, bridges, rail lines, ports, power lines, data cables and gas pipelines that cross our region and continent,” Ramaphosa said.<\/p>\n
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Ramaphosa said SA has placed infrastructure at the centre of its strategy for inclusive growth because reliable energy, water, transport and digital connectivity are critical to economic development.<\/p>\n
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According to Ramaphosa, the country’s infrastructure pipeline has grown substantially in recent years. “The estimated capital value of the portfolio of our Strategic Integrated Projects has grown from approximately $19 billion in 2020 to more than $94 billion today,” Ramaphosa said.<\/p>\n
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Ramaphosa said the current portfolio includes 195 public and private sector projects across key economic sectors.<\/p>\n
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Over the past several years, 32 projects valued at about $2.7 billion have been completed, while 55 projects worth more than $23 billion are currently under construction.<\/p>\n
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Ramaphosa said the challenge now is to convert planning into implementation. “We need to convert plans into prepared projects, convert prepared projects into investment, and convert investment into construction,” Ramaphosa said.<\/p>\n
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Ramaphosa highlighted the role of Infrastructure SA (ISA) in helping prepare projects and secure financing.<\/p>\n
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Through ISA’s $34 million project preparation facility, 26 projects have received development support.<\/p>\n
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Ramaphosa pointed to a project in Matjhabeng Local Municipality, where an investment of about $101 000 in project preparation helped unlock a $45 million financing facility from the Development Bank of Southern Africa for the replacement of more than 1 700 kilometres of water pipes.<\/p>\n
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Through ISA’s Adopt-a-Municipality programme, projects are being prepared to unlock approximately $393 million in investment for water, sanitation, energy and waste management infrastructure.<\/p>\n
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Ramaphosa also announced the release of the third edition of the Construction Book, which showcases more than $19.7 billion worth of infrastructure projects expected to move into procurement over the next 12 to 18 months.<\/p>\n
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The publication contains more than 170 projects with an estimated value of $14.8 billion.<\/p>\n
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Ramaphosa said infrastructure development must also support the broader goal of regional economic integration. “We know that physical infrastructure alone will not deliver integration,” Ramaphosa said.<\/p>\n
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Ramaphosa said governments, businesses, financiers and development institutions must work together to accelerate infrastructure delivery and create the foundation for sustained economic growth across SA and the African continent.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":43410,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[44],"class_list":["post-43721","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-finance","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"South Africa's (SA) President Cyril Ramaphosa has called for faster infrastructure development in the country and across the Southern African region, describing infrastructure investment as central to economic growth, job creation and regional integration.","published_date":"","news_description":"South Africa's (SA) President Cyril Ramaphosa has called for faster infrastructure development in the country and across the Southern African region, describing infrastructure investment as central to economic growth, job creation and regional integration.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/43721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/43721\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43722,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/43721\/revisions\/43722"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=43721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}